Baby Dedication

We had a dedication ceremony for Orion today at the UU church in Thousand Oaks. It was a very nice service. I hadn't really thought too much about customizing it as I had seen services in the past that were just fine, but Betty made the offer so I started thinking about it. The symbols they already use are water and a rose, so that made me start thinking about including the elements. The water was already there and the rose could represent earth. In talking to Betty about fire she had the idea to start using a candle that could be used at every dedication. She mentioned they do the same thing for memorials and Ron had the idea that it should be the same candle - kindof a circle of life thing. Betty thought about it and ended up incorporating the idea. We also brought our own candle so Orion can have it to light as he grows. For air we decided to use the same feathers that had been used at our wedding. We called for the blessing of the East, South, West and North of intelligence, warmth, love and strength. I also found a poem that hadn't been used before by Rabinder Tagore:

When I bring you coloured toys, my child,
I understand why there is such a play of colours on clouds,
on water, and why flowers are painted in tints-
when I give coloured toys to you, my child.
When I sing to make you dance,
I truly know why there is music in leaves,
and why waves send their chorus of voices to the heart of the listening earth-
when I sing to make you dance.
When I bring sweet things to your greedy hands,
I know why there is honey in the cup of the flower,
and why fruits are secretly filled with sweet juice -
when I bring sweet things to your greedy hands.
When I kiss your face to make you smile, my darling,
I surely understand what pleasure streams from the sky in morning light,
and what delight the summer breeze brings to my body-
when I kiss you to make you smile.

Included in the ceremony were my parents and Ron's dad and sister. Ron's mom chose not to come for religious reasons I guess, but she came by the house later. My friend Taira and Ron's friend Andy were the godparents. We closed with a poem by Sophia Lyon Fahs, a wonderful woman who pioneered much of UU religious education:

And so the children come.
And so they have been coming.
Always in the same way they come -
Born of the seed of man and woman.
No angels herald their beginning,
No prophets predict their future courses,
No wise men see a star to point their way
To find the babe that may save [hu]mankind.
Yet each night a child is born is a holy night.
Fathers and Mothers -
Sitting beside their children's cribs -
Feel glory in the wondrous sight of a life beginning.
They ask: "When or how will this new life end?
Or will it ever end?"
Each night a child is born is a holy night.

After church we had everybody over for lunch. Thanks to Costco and Pavilions for making my day easy. I didn't make a thing - just bought a bunch of platters. I even had the tomatoes sliced for sandwiches! Overall a very nice day.

Tooooooooth!

Not alot of time, but had to make a note that the first tooth poked through today. It is the bottom right one. So the other bottom one should follow shortly and supposedly teething symptoms mellow out after that!

First Hike with the Baby

So the hubby's journal reminded me I better put an entry in my journal. The main reason I am doing this is so I will have dates when it is time to go back and put the scrapbook together. So if a picture taking or a first happened, I better be writing about it - haha. Last Monday (MLK day so Ron was off work) we did our first experiment with Orion in the baby backpack. He did great. There is just enough support for him even though he can't sit up on his own yet. We tried to hike to the local waterfall, but the extra 20 pounds kicked Ron's butt. Also, we tried a different route down into the canyon which turned out to be much longer. Altogether we did make about 2 miles, some of it pretty steep, so we didn't do that badly. Interesting sites along the way: one of the bridges washed out from the heavy rains and sad little debarked dogs.

Update

Well, I guess I should do an update since the holidays have passed. On the 23rd we got together with Ron's family and Taira, Mike and Christina for dinner at Buca di Beppo. A rolicking good time with a 4 liter bottle of Chianti. Ron even had a few glasses. Mike was in fine form and embarassing Taira. Christina somehow graduated from thinking I was a freak for breastfeeding to asking if she could try it!?! Orion spent most of the time with grandpa Dirk and seemed quite happy. By the time he gave him up it was nursing time so he didn't get to spend much time with anybody else. We got a great food gift basket from Dirk and Christine. Everything in it was good for either Ron or me. I also got a beautiful frame from Taira and Orion got his first Hot Topic gift! Nightmare before Christmas clothes!

Christmas Eve was spent at Chuck's as usual with homemade chicken noodle soup. Back at home we opened family gifts. Ron seemed pleased with his Geek blanket and his old school Atari games. Orion grabbed at the wrapping paper a bit, but was overall pretty uninterested in the goings on. Christmas morning brought the Santa gifts and a nice fire, although we had some trouble with smoke.... I made pancakes and bacon and we also had some fresh cantaloupe. Then it was off to Grandma's for more presents - we really do live in a consumer society, don't we? I think the highlight there was the antique dragon lamp my mom got for Ron.

In other baby news... Orion loves his Step and Play Piano. I think he feels like a big boy standing up. He has also discovered raspberries and is delightedly making new noises every day, including laughter. He makes this cute inhaling squeal that goes with his laugh.

At his well baby visit on Tuesday Dr. Krumian measured his length three times because he couldn't believe how big he was - 29 inches - which translates into 12 month sizes in clothes! It is getting hard to buy him the kind of things I like for babies because they don't make them in his size.

That's all for now.